Upon invitation from the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), the Commissioner, Mr. Besnik Dervishi and members of the staff of the Authority, conducted a work meeting at this EU institution. The agenda of the meeting was twofold: firstly it dealt with the integration process in the context of the transposition of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (2016/679), and the Police Directive (2016/680); and secondly with the information exchange and discussions in the frame of the planning of the 41st edition of the International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners hosted by the Commissioner’s Office. It is important highlighting that last October the European Data Protection Supervisor hosted, jointly with the Bulgarian DPA, the 40th edition of this Conference, and are members, together with the Commissioner’s Office, of its steering body, the Executive Committee.
The Commissioner, Mr. Besnik Dervishi and his staff were initially welcomed by the General Director of the EDPS, Mr. Leonardo Cervera Navas and the responsible staff for the organisation of the 40th International Conference, and subsequently by the European data Protection Supervisor, Mr. Giovanni Buttarelli. Mr. Dervishi expressed his thanks to his counterpart for the invitation, as well as for the readiness to co-operate with the Commissioner’s Office, and provided him with an overview of the current state of the planning of the next edition of the Conference. Additionally, the Commissioner introduced the Supervisor with the Albanian data protection legal framework, the powers of the Commissioner’s Office and made a summary of its activities, focusing on the steps taken by the Authority vis-à-vis the initiation of the process of harmonization of the national data protection legislation with the acquis communautaire. In turn, Mr. Buttarelli expressed his full support in assisting the Commissioner’s Office on both the aforementioned actions, highlighting their importance in the context of the country’s integration process. Discussions followed on a technical level, focusing on the exchange of experience with the staff of the EDPS.